Product Reviews

Indian Summer

Auburn: Indian Summer

Indian Summer marks the return of UK based electro-acoustic act, Auburn. Their previous work, Dreams was released way back in 2003.

Auburn is led by vocalist/songwriter Liz Lenten. She co-wrote all the song with Max Gilkes and she took care of the lyrics. Her voice is pretty unusual, although fitting very well with the musical direction. She has a somewhat rough and sexy vocal tone with a sweet melodious edge. I would have called this release Summer Breeze myself rather than Indian Summer for it will come as a nice breath of fresh air to cool our hot summer days. This album is made of very easy compositions to listen to and will put the listener in an easy going mood. The music is quite varied though, while remaining very laid back as a whole. Auburn took inspiration from blues, jazz, soft rock, country and even reggae. On many of the ten tracks, one could hear acoustic guitars, violin, strong bass, percussions and the cool voice of Liz with male & female back vocals. My overall favorite tune is on position #2, "Strong". This great composition has the most beautiful melodic lines to be found on this album and a sweet relax vibe crafted by acoustic arpeggios, piano, strings , keyboards and back vocals. "Too Far From Home", has a definite country feel with its beat, acoustic and fiddle tones. Liz has put a comment on each song and for this track she mentioned: "I'm a country girl at heart". The following song, "All Comes Back to You" is the bluesy one to be enjoyed. As for the reggae times, one must select "Day Dreaming" and the closer, dub mix version of "Day Dreaming". Personally, I preferred the original version though.

So, Indian Summer is a very pleasant album to listen and it will put you in an even more pleasant laid back mood.

Track listing:1- Shame on You2- Strong3- Indian Summer4- Free Spirit5- Day Dreamin'6- Stop the Clock7- Too Far from Home8- All Comes Back to You9- This Is the Life10- Day Dreamin' (dub mix)